Baron/History
Early Childhood Baron’s mother was a penniless beggar. She didn’t know who the father of her child was, and brought the baby to term on scraps of food most would consider garbage. She was forced to give birth in a dark and cold alleyway in the dead of knight, resulting in severe complications. Baron was born with a crippled right arm. Though he could move it, the arm was incredibly weak, unable to lift even a pencil. Baron’s mother tried to sell the baby, to both feed herself, and to provide the child with a better life, even if it were a life of labor or servitude. Still, because of the child’s arm, no one would take the baby. Due to this, Baron’s mother resented her child, viewing him as a burden she couldn’t care for. She’d use the child to steal and con her way into getting food, only feeding him what he had earned. When he became a toddler, Baron’s mother grew sick from starvation. He’d watch as plenty of passerby's would gawk at this dying mother, often times with pockets full of money and stomachs full of food. Even at a young age, he realized the cruelty in their actions, simply leaving a woman to die because of status. Still, when she finally passed, Baron did not mourn her, he believed that suffering was all there was to life, and so such death came at no surprise. An orphaned child left to the hungry streets, Baron would often stare at the governor's manor and dream of nobility. Often times the Governor’s caravan would parade through the streets of the city. He would smile and wave to all his people, showing off his luxurious attire and fanciful carriage. Yet, never would he look to the beggar child, despite passing him during every parade. Still, the young Baron longed for the lifestyle of the governor. He’d piece together outfits from scraps of garbage, always valuing his appearance above all. This was the only comfort he found in his life, by dressing the part of a noble, perhaps the beggar child could someday become one. This only made him more of a nuisance to the other children. Many would harass the cripple for his useless arm, knowing that the defenseless child could not fight back. They would tear at his already tattered clothes, mocking his attempt at fashion, and scorning the notion of dreaming of nobility. Often times the other children, particularly the older ones, would beat young Baron. They would come in superior numbers, as if the crippled child could defend against a single one of them. Then they would hold him and beat him in the streets until the child lay motionless in the gutter. Many witnessed this, but none considered it of value to intervene. Worse even, the pedestrians of the streets would simply step over the motionless child, gawking at his filth like they did his dying mother. Or laughing at the irony of his attempt at a noble appearance. One day while fleeing his bullies, Baron ran into the catacombs beneath the city. He attempted to hide behind one of the sepulchers, unaware that the structure was unstable. The tomb fell over, crashing through the floor, and the child plummeted an entire story downward. He had reached a section of the catacombs undisturbed for hundreds of years. There was no light, and all entrances were sealed off. It was clear the chamber had been long forgotten, and that no one would be able to find him. Still, this notion didn’t frighten the young Baron. This was the first time he had ever really been alone, having spent his entire life exposed to the busy streets. He wondered the forgotten catacombs, allowing himself to become lost in the cold damp maze of stone. Eventually, he saw a light. A purple glow was emitting from behind another sealed chamber. Baron opened it, to reveal a secret tomb, hidden within the center of the deepest catacombs. Still, the source of the light was hidden. It leaked from the lid of a sarcophagus, unmarked and ancient. The beggar child, with all the force his scrawny good arm could muster, slid the lid off this grave. Within, was the corpse of what had to have once been a dark mage. The corpse was perfectly preserved, with no signs of decay. An eternal rest, it appeared more like a sleeping body than a dead one. Yet dead it clearly was, as Baron approached the body, it never moved nor breathed. Clutched within its cold and rigid hands, was the source of the purple light. A grimoire, more ancient than the catacombs themselves, glowed with purple miasma. Its cover displayed a skull surrounded by purple symbols the meaning of which long lost to time. There, alone within the depths of an ancient tomb, surrounded by cold wet air and darkness, the young Baron sat, with Grimoire in hand. He had long ago taught himself how to read and write. He knew it was necessary of all nobles to possess these skills. Knowing an education was out of his reach, he would watch as businessmen and merchants signed away ledgers, and would steal various receipts or tattered books from the garbage to practice reading. Now, he possessed a source of knowledge, and held within his hands an education, another key stone to becoming a noble. So he sat, with only the purple glow of the book itself, reading. This book, he soon realized, was a book on the lost art of Curse Magic. Written by a dark mage centuries ago, it detailed within all one needs to know on the art of Curse Magic. Baron realized that he could use the dark magics within the grimoire to defend himself from his daily assaultants. He took the book with him when he climbed from the catacombs, and kept it secret from his assaulatants during the day. Every night he would read a chapter from the book and practice the spell. Though most magics were out of his scope of ability at the time, there was one he was insistent on practicing and mastering. His child mind was attracted to the doll-like figures illustrated within one chapter of the grimoire. It was a chapter on Human Possession, and how to place souls within inanimate dolls to control and manipulate at will. Baron became confident that he could perform this magic successfully, all he needed was to acquire a vessel. Already accustomed to piecing together scraps for his noble attire, Baron was easily able to stitch together various pieces of discarded fabric. He would work on the fabrics during the day, becoming familiar with each thread. When his bullies would come, they would mock him further for playing with dolls, unaware of Baron’s true intentions. Eventually after working tirelessly to both gather the materials and craft them Baron was able to create three dolls. Each doll was roughly the same size as Baron himself, about the size of a small child. Though many passersby commented on the unsettling appearance of these dolls, Baron was proud of his creations, and loved them with all his heart. All he needed now was souls to fill them, and he knew exactly where to procure them. After being beaten again by his bullies, Baron feinted unconsciousness. When his assailants left, Baron got up and followed them, protected by the cover of night, until he learned where each of the three children lived. The following morning the city was in a panic, as three children had gone missing in the dead of night. The people were in a frenzy attempting to search for them. That is, until they noticed the beggar boy dancing with his dolls. The dolls were moving on their own, seemingly with minds of their own as well, following Baron around and playing childish games like old friends. The child was never happier, seemingly unaware of the atrocity he committed. The people stared in horror, at the child and his dolls, as the truth of the situation donned on them. Soon a crowd started to gather, all watching, shocked to the point where they couldn’t move. Finally, the Governor and his guards pushed through the crowd to see the young Baron dancing in routine with the three Seith Dolls, busking for money. The parents of the children cried in grief-stricken horror, screaming at the governor to arrest the child. However, the Governor was not horrified, no, he was impressed. Seith Magic was a complicated and powerful magic, as dealing with souls was no simple matter, yet this child, nearly still a toddler, was able to perform it with human souls three times successfully. He saw potential in the young mage, and rather than send him to the chopping block, he had the child apprehended and taken to his own manor. Adolescence The Governor believed that the young Baron could grow into an incredibly powerful mage. He took Baron in as his ward. Keeping this a secret from the citizens, Baron was instructed to never leave the Manor. Though Baron would never think of leaving, as he had spent his entire life looking up to the magnificent mansion and dreaming of one day living in it. So it was that Baron’s existence was left a secret, as the people below thought him imprisoned or executed. He was raised by the Governor and his servants. Each day was spent learning the intricacies of nobility through various expensive tutors. Even if Baron’s existence was to be kept secret, the Governor still desired his ward be properly educated and refined. Despite Baron’s humble origins, he took to the education with surprising ease. He had imitated the fashion and mannerism of nobility best he could on the streets, and now that he was given a chance to learn them proper he wouldn’t squander it. Quickly the child turned in demeanor from street rat to noble prince. He absorbed as much education as he could, often embarrassing his tudors by out reciting, questioning, and behaving them. Eventually he became so adept to the intricacies of nobility that it became impossible to tell he wasn’t born into it. To this day, he continues to strictly adhere to the customs of nobility, holding noble tradition in great regard even among the worst of the dark mages. While every day was spent receiving a noble education, every night was spent practicing his dark magic. The Governor, seeing the potential in reviving a lost art, insisted that Baron practice his magic. Baron poured over his Grimoire every night, until he could recite the contents verbatim, and recall any passage desired on a whim. He conditioned his body for magical use, building up his stores of ethernano. His dedication to his art and routine was such that even within his adolescence he was able to cast S-class spells without any sign of exhaustion. Baron’s conditioning wasn’t simply magical either. When Baron’s crippled arm became too much of an obstacle for learning his magic, the Governor resolved to fix it. He commissioned a magic brace from the finest enchanters in the land. This brace would bore an enchantment that allowed Baron’s weakened arm to match the force applied to it. This meant that Baron would be able to wield exactly the amount strength necessary to lift the weight of any object. With this gift, Baron could continue on in his studies completely unhindered. The Governor was proud of Baron, even kind to him, and the young Baron now strived only to impress his father-figure. Over the years, the Governor would closely observe Baron’s progress, upholding a high standard for anyone who would call themself his son. Baron consistently exceeded these standards and became the Governor's pride. Then, on his eighteenth birthday the Governor summoned him to his study. Baron arrived expecting a a birthday gift. He had made it clear for years, that the only thing he desired was to be officially named the Governor's son and heir. Now that he had come of age, he expected this surprise calling to be the moment he dreamed of. When he arrived, the Governor's chamber was covered in ritualistic symbols. Various magical trinkets lined the shelves, and Baron’s own grimoire sat before a chalk circle. The Governor assured the surprised Baron that this was nothing to be concerned about. This was a sacred ritual, among nobles, to symbolize the unity of blood between a host and his ward becoming a father and son. The Governer had always treated Baron with the utmost of kindness and respect, and so Baron, though cautious, had no reason to disbelieve him. However when he entered the magical circle, the truth was revealed. Baron became trapped in a magical bind, confused, he looked to his caretaker. The Governor simply smiled greedily, not concerned with the fears of a street rat. He revealed that Baron had been nothing but an investment. That he had conditioned and educated Baron only to prepare his flesh as a vessel, so that the Governor himself could take over the young man’s body. The only requirement to this blood ritual, was that the victim had to both trust and love the caster, and willingly enter the circle. Baron’s entire life collapsed before him. His concepts of love and kindness shattered, and the truth of reality revealed itself to him. He realized that there is no such thing as kindness in this world, only greed and selfishness. He was right, as a child, to believe that existence is misery and misery alone. Baron didn’t become angry, nor scared, at this concept. He simply ceased to feel anything at all. Emotions were an aspect of existence, and if existence were misery, Baron would have no part in contributing to it. The Governor was surprised to see his ward’s disposition change. Concerned that his ritual wasn’t working, the Governor went to check the grimoire. However, when he went to reach for the book, he found himself unable to move. Something had possessed him, it was as if he were a passenger in his own body. A tight grip clenched the Governor's heart, and he feared he was having a heart attack. With his own death in hand, the Governor attempted to speed up the ritual so that he may take over the young Baron’s body. Yet still he had no control, as his own legs started to move, yanking at his flesh as they bent in unnatural angles. The Governor was terrified, watching as his body approached the magic circle containing baron. The moment his own body entered the circle, the magic seal broke, and so too did the grip on his heart. Before he could fall limb to the floor, Baron’s hand shot out and tightened around the Governor's head. Through the enhanced strength given to him by his brace, the very brace the Governor gifted him, Baron lifted the Governor into the air. Through muffled screams, the Governor attempted to apologize, begging for mercy and sharing how much he loved Baron. These finals pleas fell on deaf ears, as, without expression or remorse, Baron crushed the man’s skull in his bare hands. After tossing his caretakers boody aside, baron left the chamber. He calmly walked through the Manor, slaughtering any servant and guard he came across without breaking pace. Upon exiting the manor, he was met with the full force of the Governors’ personal guard. They charged the young mage, but their efforts were fruitless. One by one these guards dropped dead, either by Baron’s hand’s or from wounds they never received. Due to baron’s mastery over his Curse Magic, any attack made on him simply appeared on another guard. As they attempted to stop Baron, they were unknowingly slaughtering themselves. Soon, Baron was able to exit the courtyard, never having slowed his course. He left the Governor's property, arriving at the town form which he spent the majority of his life hiding. At first, he wasn’t recognized by the townspeople. It was after all, years after the Seith incident, and he had grown to a young man since then. One of the citizens, intending well, and tragically ignorant of his identity, approached him to ask what was wrong, and immediately fell dead. Screams of terror echoed through the streets, but they served no good. As Townspeople ran frantically from the young mage, he simply continued to walk. Soon the townspeople, unable to control their own bodies, began to mutilate themselves and others. The entire city turned into a chaotic blood bath, with screams of agony and horror echoing for miles. Aware of their actions, but unable to stop them, the townspeople butchered their own loved ones. Even those unaffected, who were able to barricade themselves, would find grievous wound suddenly appearing on their bodies. By the Time Baron reached the city gates, not a single soul was left alive in his hometown. Meeting Louise For years, Baron isolated himself from humanity, confining himself to the furthest depths of an uninhabitable swamp. He had discovered human nature was nothing but greed and cruelty, and so decided to separate himself from humanity as best he could. There, he did nothing but work to improve the scale of his magic. All he had known was to study and become a noble, now that he had been betrayed by his own patron, his only drive was to continue to improve his magic. The Art of Curses had been lost until Baron’s discovery of the tome as a child. The only known resurgence of the magic was a spell which broke bones, and even that too became lost to time. However, Baron was a prodigy, and to this day no magic remains outside of his ability. He had memorized and successfully performed every spell in his tome book, seeming to surpass the very author. Now, with his foundations mastered, Baron needed only to experiment. He collected souls, mostly from abandoned graves found within the swamp. Though when an unfortunate traveler found themselves within his domain, he would not hesitate to add their own soul to his collection. Taking these souls, Baron would test the limits of his ability, creating hundreds of Seith Dolls and cursed puppets. Soon, Baron’s Seith Magic became much closer to necromancy than simply object animation. He quickly amassed an army of cursed creations, allowing them to freely roam the swampy forest at their will. He had no concern for them once they were created, he simply wished to see how powerful a creature he was capable of creating. These creations were useful in experimenting with his Curse Arts as well, as he couldn’t place curses upon himself, and so needed a constant stream of test subjects. As Baron’s cursed arts became stronger, he required stronger creatures. Quickly, his Seith magic turned in form from necromancy, to life magic, as it appeared with a single soul, he could create a living and thinking being. After many years, the swamps became overrun with these sentient nightmare creations. Creature’s made of living souls, dolls, puppets, corpses, and even living flesh. They roamed the forest freely, each of them being their own dreaded curse. Often times they would ambush travelers, and even raid towns, to bring their master more souls and corpses to work with. This seemed to be the only thing that could please their master. Quickly a hierarchy formed among the Cursed Creations. Those who were strongest were able to collect more souls, and so became the more renowned among the creations. With each death, another creation was added to their ranks, meaning the more they killed the stronger the army became. Further, since Baron’s own ability improved the newer the Seith Creation was the stronger it became. With each generation the army became stronger, and were able to kill and claim more souls. Creating a vicious and rapid cycle of increased rank and ability. Each day the cursed creations grew in number and power. Some creations gained access to the magic ability their soul had in life, and were even able to teach the others how to use magic of their own. With this, they were able to now leave the forests and raid nearby villages. They would take every living soul within the village back to Baron, who would in turn convert these souls into more soldiers and servants. Baron of course had no concern for their doings, as long as he was provided with ample resources to work with. The Creations became militant, and soon factions formed among them. They divided land and territory among themselves, and decided to spread beyond even the surrounding villages. Villagers and townsfolk of the surrounding territories continuously sent in requests for aid from the Magic Council. They had previously commissioned various guilds to try and deal with the creations before they became such a large threat. However, when these guild mages arrived they too were taken out by the creations, and added to the ranks, only increasing the armies power. When the army of Cursed Creations started to spread beyond the forests boundaries, the Magic Council realized the threat they posed. If they sent an army of mages, any casualties those mages had would only add to the creations ranks. Yet, if they didn’t react to the threat, these creations would likely spread until they became a threat to Fiore itself. So the solution became clear, they would send only a single mage. One strong enough to wipe out the Seith creations without becoming one them self, but not so strong that the magic council wouldn’t be able to defeat them should they fail. The task fell on one Louise Sandersonia, an S-class mage from the guild Steel Horse. Louise was considered a candidate for the Magic Council, but her behavior was always too wild, and she much preferred a life of action in the field. Her abilities however, were great. A Card Magic user, she was able to use her cards to see into the future and read her own fate, as well as read the souls of others, allowing her to become intimately familiar with a person from a single look. This, combined with her fighting prowess, made her a perfect candidate for exterminating the Cursed Creations. She would be able to predict when and where these creations would strike, and would be able to assess the weakness and abilities of each creations soul. What’s more her card magic allowed her to seal each soul within a card, therefore undoing the effects of the Seith Magic. An application was sent to her guild, and Louise was glad to accept. The first thing Louise did was secure the surrounding villages. While of course it was priority to prevent further deaths of innocent lives, really this was a strategic move. She wouldn’t be able to fight the Seith’s as long as they could replenish their ranks, so she had to cut off their supply lines. The surrounding villagers praised her as a hero mage, but she wouldn’t celebrate yet. Seeing the villagers, and the suffering they endured, awoke something in Louise. She realized she couldn’t complete her mission as she had planned. She couldn’t exterminate all the Cursed Creations. Each one of these Seiths possessed a human soul within them, and when the creations were killed, the soul would return to some unknown source. Same for if she sealed each soul within a card and then released them. She would have to keep each soul sealed within a card indefinitely. Her cards could support the soul in suspended animation, may be long enough for the Magic Council to develop a way to return them to their original bodies. Quickly Louise was able to drive the raiding parties back into the forest. With the Seith’s contained within the perimeters of the woods, Louise could begin her purge. She hunted down the Cursed Creations one by one. With each Seith defeated, she added a new soul to her deck of cards. The more souls she had, the more Seiths were drawn to her, fulfilling their basic function of gathering souls. Quickly Louise became a high value target among the Seiths. Soon, what started as a hunt, became a game of survival. Relentless wave after wave of Seiths would pursue Louise, trying to claim the bounty of souls she carried on her. She couldn’t rest, and she couldn’t flee, so her only choice was to continue fighting. She fought for a week straight, struggle to escape each encounter with the factions of Seiths that would ambush her. To rest, she would seal herself within her own cards, saving her from physical harm, then unseal herself when she was ready to continue running and fighting. This continued, until one Seith general caught on. One of the Cursed Creations under his command had located the hidden location of her deck of cards while she was resting. He was of course unable to damage or unseal the cards, and so had to wait for her to do so herself. The general sent word to all the Seith Creations, who gathered around the card waiting in ambush. When she finally exited the card, she was overrun by a legion of seith creations. The S-class Mage held her own for as long as she could, but was finally defeated by sheer numbers. Luckily however, the cursed Creations realized they couldn’t kill her. Only she was able to unseal her deck of cards, and release all the souls she had obtained. If they killed her, they would only receive a single soul, her own. Unsure what to do about this situation, the Seith’s took her to the only person they knew was able to deal with such a matter, their Master. Baron was perplexed at first, when his dolls brought him a living woman. He hadn’t seen another living creature in years. His cursed creations, the Seiths, usually dealt with the menial task of gathering of souls, allowing him to work in piece. He in truth, had no knowledge of their whereabouts or routines, as he didn’t bother to keep track of servants so long as they performed their task. When the generals caught him up on the situation, he was silently amused. He dismissed his cursed creations, and decided to deal with the matter himself. Baron held the traditions of nobility in very high regard, and so treated his new prisoner as a guest. Louise was shocked. The Magic Council and all the intel on the situation had lacked any notion that there was a single force behind the army of seiths. There was of course the possibility of one, and Louise had prepared should such a suspicion prove true. However, she had expected a possible head of the army to be a demon or some other monstrosity. Instead, she now looked at a gentleman, well dressed, noble, even kind. He spoke with her, his voice troubled, but his tone always polite, and explained her situation. As he spoke, he was so charming that it became difficult to believe that he was the one behind so much horror. He introduced himself, then requested the return of his collection of souls, and shared that while he could take them by force, she was a guest in his home, and so he would wait for her willingly surrender her property. Assessing her situation, Louise used her magic to read the soul of this man named Baron At first, she felt overwhelming terror, the magical ability of the man before her was unfathomable, she had never seen a power like it. She was accosted with images of his future, a nightmare incarnate, so much death, so much terror and destruction, a loneliness which expanded past human emotion. She couldn’t tell what any of it meant, her own thoughts were drowned out in the suffering. Then, something else happened, a light. A small flicker, like that of a candle being snuffed out, but in the pervasive darkness of this man's fate, there was for a brief moment, some light. Louise used her magic to focus in on that, and again she was shocked. The only light in this mans string of fate...were images of a woman...images of her. She decided to look past the horrors of this man’s soul, and look into what remained. What she saw, was a little boy, alone on the street, wearing the tatters of noble clothing. Everything that drove this man, the cornerstone of his soul, the source of all the terror and horror that he would feel and in turn cause, was loneliness. Such a monstrous being, a source of so much knowledge, horror, and grace, and inside he was only a lonely child. Louise realized that this man was not beyond redemption. If she could show him that humanity isn’t greed and cruelty, but selflessness and love, if she could instill hope into his hopeless soul, perhaps he could change his ways. Perhaps he could free the souls she’d collected, free all of the souls trapped within their seith bodies. Perhaps he could even free his own soul. Louise refused to give him the cards, and so she would remain a prisoner within his domain. Though she was a prisoner, she was afforded a freedom so long as she remained within Baron’s lair. She convinced Baron to stop his seith’s from gathering anymore souls, at the threat of her own suicide. Her death of course would ensure that her own collection of souls would be locked away for eternity, or at least until Baron was able to figure out how to reclaim them. Of course, this inspired all sorts of threats from the man, but Louise’s stubborn nature won out in the end. So it was the two were at a stalemate, Baron returned to his work, but the Seiths remained dormant within the forests. For months Louise would slowly chip away at Baron’s cold exterior. Eventually she became familiar enough with her host to actually inquire about his work. Baron, perhaps knowingly, slowly shared more and more about his studies, until the two were able to actually hold a conversation. Louise started learned from Baron, and improved her own magic, and over the course of time, the two developed a reluctant teacher student relationship. As time passed, and Louise became even stronger under Baron’s tutelage, Baron found himself wavering in his convictions. He had been so sure that the only purpose of existence was to suffer, and yet, he now found himself content, if not happy. Something about Louise brought hope to Baron’s soul, and for the first time, he questioned his actions. A year passed, and Baron summoned Louise, once again asking that she return the souls. After their initial meeting, Baron had never again mentioned the souls, and Louise lived in dread of the day that he did. Now, she looked to the mage, a man of knowledge and ability that she had never thought possible, a man of charm and class, but also a man of such horror. Louise knew if she returned the souls she would lose the only thing stopping him from killing her, and that he would once again be able to send his Seith’s out to raid and murder. Yet still, she felt something within her, something that compelled her to agree, and despite knowing all the evil this man would be capable of, she released the souls within the cards, allowing them to return to their Seith Bodies. She closed her eyes in shame, she had betrayed her mission, her own ideals and morals. Tears formed in her eyes, something this strong-willed woman had not experienced since childhood. What unspeakable actions would now happen because of her? What would this man do? A single tear fell down her cheek, and before she could react, a gentle finger wiped it away. She opened her eyes surprised, looking defiantly to the man who had just shown kindness. Was he mocking her in his victory? He had not killed her, had not moved. Instead, he simply looked at her. He had not shown any expression in the past year besides a quiet solemness. Now his stoic eyes looked to hers, and he revealed a sadness she had not seen in him before, empathy. Around them, the atmosphere began to glow purple, the color of Baron’s magic. The seith dolls around them turned to a purple dust, its particles glowing as they floated into the air. The forested swamp surrounding the lair looked as though it were lit with a million purple fireflies. These clouds of light rose above the canopies and dispersed into the night sky. Soon the miasmic purple mist which had coated the forest floor for years disappeared. Until the swamp turned silent, and dark, no life within, no souls, spare two, a man and a woman’s. Baron had freed every one of his cursed creations, and now looked to the woman who had changed his life, who had saved him from himself. “Madam Sandersonia.” He said, his voice gentle but with a new sense of vulnerability “I love you.”